Real estate mogul and 2016 GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump’s favorable numbers have soared among Republicans since he announced last month he is running for president, a new poll said.
Fifty-seven percent of Republicans said they have a favorable impression of Mr. Trump in a new Washington Post-ABC poll, compared to 40 percent who said they have an unfavorable view. In a May Post-ABC poll, about two-thirds of Republicans had an unfavorable view of him.
Among the overall public, Mr. Trump had a negative 33 percent/61 percent favorable/unfavorable split — still significantly improved from a 16 percent/71 percent split in late May.
Mr. Trump was first in a Suffolk University/USA Today poll released this week on the 2016 GOP field. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who was second, had a 63 percent favorable rating among Republicans in the Post-ABC poll and had an overall 38 percent/47 percent favorable/unfavorable split.
Mr. Trump has defended remarks he made during his announcement speech last month that Mexico is sending criminals over to the U.S., saying the comments have been misconstrued and that he was referring to the Mexican government.
He has also said repeatedly he’ll win the Latino vote if he’s the GOP nominee. But his unfavorable ratings among Hispanics rose from 60 percent in May to 81 percent now and his favorable ratings were 13 percent.
The overall survey of 1,011 adults was conducted July 8-12 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.